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How to Create a Climate of Abundance: Expect It!

As we move into the fourth quarter of 2008, the media continues to cumulatively frighten the bejeezus out of us … warning us to shelter the family, shut off the valves, and shy from taking any risks—after all, for the worst is yet to come! “We’re still in a recession!” Or are we? Well, I suppose it depends on who’s talking.

For some, the chatter itself serves as a comfortable crutch that the collective current reality may not be fabulous, but at least consistent, if constant. For these folks, having something to gripe about is better that nothing … after all, change is always bad! But, what about you? Are you sick and tired of the incessant, winner-less argument filling headlines, and hallways alike? Or, are you yourself at the helm of this pouting? If so, perhaps you’re perpetuating your own poverty … one that spreads from your brain to beyond your business card and billfold. Now, if you put on your pants the same way everyone else does, then fifty bucks says your clients, partners, and customers are caught up in this same petrifying conversation.

But playing in the financial arena almost requires you to consider and plausibly investigate both sides of the coin, folks, for both your benefit and theirs. That numinous Law of Attraction may seem wives-talesy, but it sure seems to hold plenty of water…for both good and bad. As Walt Disney hath proclaimed, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” That said, I offer you this SOAPBOX® to challenge you and further charge you to ignite others with its positive yet realistic wealth of wisdom.

The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car…a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little.—Success Motivation Institute

“I can’t do that.” “I don’t know how.” “I don’t have time.” “I can’t risk it.” “What if I don’t succeed?” Ugh! Can’t you just hear the wasted whining and empty expectations in these excuses? Needless to say, these maladies weed their way into our everyday dialogue; seeded in both spoken and unspoken word, contaminating both present and future. So many of us unknowingly dog leash ourselves to our homes, or worse yet, our work, wearing a path of least existence and breeding banality, boredom, and bleary sights. Convenience and cruise control become our blinding curse and we no longer even tug the links to see how much slack will yield to our curiosities.

We endlessly commute to and fro with an empty lunch box. We make space for mediocrity and its crumbs. And in a knee-jerk response, we build our own roadblocks, burn our winning lottery tickets, and order the same dry toast, burnt, with a side of soggy bacon. News flash! The fruit and fruition of life does not begin at your driveway and end at the office door.

So, tell me. Why do you expect so little and settle for less? Do you fear revisiting that time in your life when you thought you had the entire world in the palm of your hands? Have you sedated a ravishing hunger to lay your claim on experience and exuberance simply because you’re older and presumably wiser? Certainly the landscape has survived a good trouncing, but if you believe that it can still nourish beauty and bounty, it will. Your favorite uncle is offering you one hundred dollars for being a good kid. Don’t tell him you only expected a buck!

Breakout the fine china and large utensils and go back for seconds, even thirds. Make room for a landslide of prosperity. Get a bigger address book. Add on another garage. Forget the inch. Take the mile! Sing for more! Re-sell yourself on the idea that you do indeed have places to go, people to see, and things to do! Retire your micromanaged map of memorized side streets and u-turn onto the open road with globe in hand, a full tank of gas, and an empty flatbed!